This invention relates to hair care compositions. More particularly, this invention relates to wave-set compositions that are especially useful and effective at high humidity levels.
Conventional wave set compositions typically employ a water soluble polymer as the hair setting agent. The polymer functions by depositing a thin resin film on hair which serves to confine the hair to the desired configuration. While relatively effective as a wave setting composition, these conventional compositions possess inherent deficiencies, the most significant of which is their inability to promote improved humidity resistant curl retention while at the same time being easily deposited on the hair or removed from the hair during shampooing. It is generally recognized that the ability of a polymer based composition to impart a humidity resistant curl to the hair is very much dependent on the hygroscopicity, i.e. water sorbing tendency, and the tensile strength of the polymer film. Polymers that are somewhat hydrophobic retain their tensile strength at higher humidities and thereby improve curl retention. However, wave set compositions incorporating a hydrophobic polymer have a number of inherent disadvantages. With these wave set compositions it is generally true that the increase in the desired humidity resistant curl retention is accompanied by increased difficulty in the ability to deposit and remove the polymer film from the hair with aqueous systems.
An object of this invention is to provide a wave setting composition which exhibits improved humidity resistant curl retention capacity and which can be easily deposited on the hair from an aqueous system.
An additional object of this invention is to provide a wave setting composition which exhibits improved humidity resistant curl retention and can be readily removed from the hair by application of a conventional shampoo.
Another object of this invention is to provide a wave setting composition which exhibits improved humidity resistant curl retention and can be used subsequent to shampooing or incorporated into a shampoo base to provide a one-step shampoo/wave set composition.
Other objects and advantages will become readily apparent from the following description and appended claims.